GTA 6 standards raised as ex-Rockstar dev breaks down why it's 'the king' of open-world gaming

The expectations for Grand Theft Auto VI are set astoundingly high, and even former Rockstar employees are excited to see what the “king” of open-world games does next.

After smashing records and raising the bar of open-worlds with Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar is retreating to Vice City for what’s shaping up to be another easy-win for the studio.

Former Rockstar Games animator Mike York, who worked on GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, recently spoke with Covers.com about the scope and scale of the development team’s operation, and how rival studios have tried and failed to match its quality. GTA VI is going to move the goal post once again.

York's work on GTA V involved the iconic ‘character switches’ you’d see when swapping to Franklin, Michael or Trevor. He claimed that you could “play the game one or two or three times and not see them all.”

“Here's the thing,” he continued, “Rockstar makes the best open-world games, no matter what open-world it is. They've perfected and really honed in on the game development process of making an open world game, and a lot of companies had to play catch-up.”

An example provided by York was Ubisoft’s first entry in the Watch Dogs series, simply titled Watch Dogs.

The game’s first gameplay demo was divine if you recall. Aiden Pearce stalked the streets of Chicago in the wind and rain, with his coat realistically flowing in the breeze. The city around him shimmered as light from buildings and signs bounced off reflective surfaces, in one of the most impressive technical showcases gamers had ever seen at the time.

Unfortunately, this was not what we got in the full game. Watch Dogs was still incredible, don’t get us wrong, but graphically speaking, it was a massive downgrade in visuals compared to what was shown off during the initial reveal.

York said developers chasing the success of Rockstar’s open-worlds quickly “realised how difficult a game like this really is,” adding “they realized; ‘holy crap, we can't do this. We can't make the whole world look like this; we can only make a demo look like this.’ I guarantee you, they realised, ‘Rockstar is the king.’”

This belief will have been certified with the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, and York understands why many would consider it the current “golden standard" when it comes to open-world games.

“[Rockstar Games] literally are the top of the top of the top, and no one's done it as they can do it.”

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GTA 6 Trailer 3 is expected any day now; it will hopefully shine a light on gameplay

Red Dead Redemption 2 was impressive enough on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It never received a new-gen update for Xbox Series X/S or PlayStation 5 either. Despite this, it still holds up as a technological marvel.

GTA VI, on the other hand, has been made solely with current consoles in mind, and even though its 60fps limitations are making gamers nervous, what we’ve seen so far through trailers and leaks looks astounding.

We’re yet to see some honest-to-God gameplay, however. In-game footage has been captured for the game’s marketing, but we’re yet to see protagonists Jason and Lucia actually cause some mayhem as the players will.

The third trailer for the game is expected later this month, and a fresh earnings call for Take-Two Interactive seems like the prime time to drop it.

When it does drop, fans are hoping to see the new-and-improved Vice City in action, along with some of the in-game activities we'll be able to participate in, and vehicles we can drive/pilot.

Expectations were always going to be high given that it’s a Rockstar game, but GTA VI’s launch is shaping up to be one of the biggest media releases in human history. November 19 can’t come soon enough.

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